It's Only the Beginning
by suga-hunni-iced-tea
Summary: The background story behind Sugar Hunni Iced Tea. It seemed that the beginning of something great had just begun. AkuRoku later on.
1. Just a Meeting

Kira floated through the school hallways, among all the other students, to her homeroom. It felt like she was on a train, waiting to come to her stop, where she would simply slip out of the mass and into the classroom, smooth as ice.

_Some people say junior high is just a transition between elementary school and high school…_

She found her room and quietly edged toward it through the crowd, attempting to slip in, smooth as ice, when she tripped and fell, tumbling towards the polished tiled floor.

_But I think it's much, much more…_

She braced herself for the fall, but soon realized that she was not, in fact, falling. It took her a moment to feel the arm that was around her waist, holding her up.

_It's the beginning and the end at the same moment…_

She looked up, and saw a pair of wide cerulean eyes embeded in a light buttermilk face which held a gravity-defying head of sunny blonde hair.

_It's how the beginning and end separate…_

Kira blinked for a moment before realizing the position they were in- standing in a crowded hallway on the first day of school where a hundred (or more) students are trying to navigate they're new homerooms, not moving, blocking entry to a room in which other students are trying to get into.

_And how you keep moving forward._

Kira quickly regained her balance and moved into the classroom, where the boy followed. They moved out of the way so the other students could walk into the room, and quickly began talking.

"I'm so sorry about that—"

"Are you okay? What did you—"

"Just… thank you so much for—"  
"It was no problem, but—"

"I'm such a klutz sometimes, you probably just—"

The boy started laughing at their attempt (and failure) to talk without interupting each other. Kira stopped talking and smiled at the boy, also realizing how silly they looked.

When the boy stopped laughing, he looked at Kira with a small smile. "I'm Roxas," he said, hesitantly holding out his hand.

Kira smiled wider and shook it enthusiastically, saying, "I'm Kira."

They walked to the blob of students standing in the back of the room as the bell rang. The teacher quickly told them their (dreaded) assigned seats. Roxas sat three seats to the left and two seats down from Kira, who sat in front of a tall red-headed boy.

_It seemed that the beginning of something great had just begun._


	2. A Beautiful Friendship

In the short time of a year, Kira and Roxas became best friends. The kind of best friends that did everything together, went everywhere together, and trusted everything with each other. And although it sometimes seemed to others that they're closeness meant more than just a friendship, it was not. They loved each other dearly, but not in the way that could result in dating or marriage or anything of the sort. They were simply best friends. Kira had made a lot of close friends in her first year of junior high, but none of them were as close as her and Roxas.

When summer came, almost nothing could stop the two from spending most of their vacation together, either at the beach or doing their favorite activity—going into town and eating sea-salt ice cream.

Kira pulled her long chocolate brown hair up in a lazy side ponytail and fell backwards on a couch in the Usual Spot. Roxas sighed heavily and plopped down on a beanbag chair, letting his head fall backwards as Kira said, "It's so hot out."

"I know," Roxas groaned. "And there's nothing, _not a single thing_, to do."

Kira's head shot up as she looked at her lethargic friend. "Well, there's a lot we can do…"

"Yeah, but it's to hot do do any of it," he replied dully. "Imagine a struggle match in this weather."

Kira sighed and agreed silently, looking at the clock. "And the ice cream shop doesn't open for another hour…"

"Guess we shouldn't have spent most of our munny at the beach yesterday, huh? I mean, yesterday wasn't even a particularly hot day," Roxas said quietly.

Kira nodded but smiled. "Yesterday was fun, though."

Roxas sat up. "Remember when Ven tried to ride the one wave—"

"But his boogie-board spazzed out on him—"

"And he flipped out and screamed like a little girl—"

"And plummeted into the sand—"

"And got a crab down his swim trunks?" Roxas finished, starting to laugh.

Kira joined in the laughter as they remembered countless funny incidents that happened on their trip to the beach, and pretty soon they were laughing so hard, they were clutching their stomachs and their cheeks hurt from the face-splitting grins.

They slowly began to calm down, but it was difficult to look at each other and not start laughing again. Eventually they were calm again, and sighed contently, massaging their cheeks to try and regain feeling in them.

Kira looked toward the clock and suddenly exclaimed, "The ice cream shop opens in five minutes!"

Roxas leaped up from the beanbag and said, "Let's start walking."

Kira nodded and also leapt up, lifting the curtain and walking out of it, Roxas quickly following.

They walked silently, side-by-side, to the ice cream shop. On their way, they saw a boy with bright, almost unnatural looking red hair, that was long and spiked outward in the back that looked like they could very easily poke an eye out, like a dozen red sythes coming out of his head.

Kira saw the teen and said to Roxas, "Look, it's Axel!"

Roxas looked at her with a puzzled expression. "Axel?"

Kira looked as if he had just pulled a block of swiss cheese out of his pocket and ask her, 'Mozzerella?' "Yeah, Axel. You know, he was in our homeroom all last year, sat _right behind me_?"

Roxas looked towards Axel and said, "Oh... Oh, yeah, I gues you're right."

Kira smiled and rolled her eyes playfully. "Come on, let's go say hi; he's my friend."

Roxas looked at her with a cocked eyebrow and said, "Who _isn't_ your friend? You're friends with practically every single person in the school."

Laughing, Kira replied, "Nah, I think you're referring to Sora."

Which was true. Roxas's cousin was, in fact, friends with most of the school's population, apart from a few select people that had somehow gotten on Sora's very rare bad side.

"Hey Axel! Wait up!" Kira yelled toward the red head, jogging up to him; Roxas shrugged and also ran up to their classmate behind Kira.

Axel stopped and turned to see Kira. He smirked a little and said, "Hey Kira… and Roxas," he added, acknowleging the blonde boy running up behind her.

"Hey Axel!" Kira said again, cheerfully. The three continued walking, all going in the same direction. "Where are you headed?"

"Ice cream shop. I can't believe they don't open it sooner; it's too hot out, you know?"

"I know! It's just too darn hot out. We would've been out here hours ago if they didn't wait to open it at three in the afternoon."

Roxas spoke up; "It's actually a good business technique, though. I mean, waiting until the day is at it's hottest point to open up an ice cream shop, when practically everyone is dying for an ice cream?"

Kira waved an impatient hand at him. "You of all people, Rox. You practically _worship_ the sea-salt ice cream, yet you're defending the shop that keeps you away from the stuff all day just for 'business techniques,'" she said, air quoting 'business ideas'. "You die in agony waiting for the shop to open so you can have your beloved sea-salt ice cream, but right when you're about to get it, you stop to admire how the shop kept you waiting because of what? _Business techniques_."

Roxas shrugged as Axel laughed in his loud, contagious laugh. "You like the sea-salt ice cream, eh?" Axel asked. He continued when Roxas nodded enthusiastically. "The one flavour I haven't tried yet. I'm assuming its good?"

Roxas smiled one of his semi-rare grins and said, "The best."

Kira smiled, looking back and fourth at her two friends, glad that they were getting along. Kira could tell that Roxas hadn't really known Axel that much, which wasn't surprising to her at all, because Roxas had always quite shy and to himself, and didn't smile as often as he should. But seeing him acting friendly with one of her other close friends made her happy.

They rounded the corner and saw the ice cream shop only 15 feet away. Kira glanced over at Roxas, who had an eager look on his face, bright blue eyes dancing with a gleam of hunger and desire. Looking over to Axel, Kira saw a anxious, but curious look in his jade green eyes. She giggled at her friend's expressions, reaching out and grabbing their hands, and pulling them into a jog towards the shop.

When they stepped into the small shop, they were instantly met with a cool breeze. The ice cream shop was always the coldest shop around town, obviously because of the abbundent stock of ice cream. Kira pulled Axel and Roxas up to the counter and, without hesitating, said, "Three sea-salt ice creams, please."

The ice cream shop manager quickly handed them three of the blue popcicles, snatching up the combined munny, and gruffly told them to get out before the rush of people came in.

When they were outside, Kira, Roxas and Axel found a shady spot to stand.

"Kira, are we going to…?" Roxas asked, letting his words drift into the hot, summer air.

Kira shook her head. "Naw, it's too hot out. By the time we get up there, the ice cream will either be eaten or melted," she said sadly.

Axel cocked an eyebrow at the two. "Where were you thinking of going?" he asked, slurping up some of the ice cream that had quickly begun to melt and slide down his hand.

"We like to go to the top of the clocktower and eat our ice cream. It has a really great view, and it's really calm and quiet," Roxas said.

"Well, let's go then!" Axel said cheerfully.

"But, our ice cream—" Kira started.

Axel interuppted her, waving a hand. "So what if our ice cream melts. It'll still be fun."

Kira glanced at Roxas, who merely shrugged. Smiling, Kira said, "Okay, sure."

Axel grinned at the two of them, and said, "To the clocktower!" He quickly began marching off in the direction the tower, leaving Kira and Roxas laughing softly and following.

By the time they had reached the top of the tower, Kira had been correct. The ice cream had begun to melt quickly, which resulted in the three friends inhaling their ice creams on the way to the clocktower. But that did not stop them. They sat down next to each other on the edge of the tower and looked out across the horizon. Roxas, looking peaceful and calm; Kira, smiling softly at the golden sun; and Axel, grinning wildly at the amazingly new sight.

Minutes passed, and the three were settled in a comfortable silence, leaving themselves to their thoughts.

"This is nice," Roxas said suddenly, talking in a dreamy voice.

Axel and Kira turned to look at him, but he continued to gaze peacefully into the lazy afternoon sky, so Axel and Kira returned to their own gazing.

"This _is_ nice," Kira said, smiling wide. "We should do this more often."

"Definitely," Roxas and Axel said in unison. The three glanced at each other before bursting into laughter.

Kira extended her arms outward, like a bird, and wrapped them around her two friends' necks, pulling the three close together. "This, my friends, is going to be the start of a beautiful friendship."


	3. Sprouting Leaves

Kira was running late, once again. Glancing up at the kitchen clock, she let out a small whimper, realizing what time it was. She sped toward her shoes, black high top converse, and slipped them on her feet, half-heartedly tieing them in a hurry. She grabbed the piece of toast from a plate on the kitchen table and held it in her mouth, grabbing a half filled bottle of milk in one hand, and the brown bag containing her lunch in the other hand. Her backpack was already hanging off her shoulders, and in a burst of speed, Kira leaped out the front door.

She jogged down the sidewalk and down a few blocks, headed toward Roxas's house. As the house came in view, she sprinted, skidding to a short stop when she was in front of it. She hopped up the steps, two at a time, until she was in front of the large wood door, and used the back of her hand to knock. Almost instantly, the door opened, and there stood Roxas, slowly adjusting his plaid, colbalt blue tie, which was part of their school uniform.

Noticing her heavy panting and slightly dishevveled appearance, Roxas smirked and stepped aside, allowing Kira entrance into the house. "You're late… Again," he remarked.

Kira used the hand that was carrying her milk to rip her toast out of her mouth, chewing and swallowing a bite of it in the process. "Yeah, yeah…" she breathed, still panting. "Is Axel joining us today, or is he going to meet us there?"

Kira and Roxas always walked to school. It was Kira's duty to get to Roxas's house before 7:45, and then the two would walk to school. They always went to the same spot- a large old oak tree that sat in a corner of the school's courtyard. Axel often walked to school by himself, meeting Kira and Roxas at the tree, but there were times when Axel woke up early enough to walk to Roxas's house and join in their walk to school.

"Meeting us there," Roxas replied from the kitchen, where he was grabbing an apple from a bowl and slinging his bookbag over his shoulder. The two headed out the door and down the sidewalk.

During the walk, Kira noticed Roxas was acting different than usual. He seemed more quiet, distracted, as though he was deep in thought. True, the fellow eighth grader was usually quiet and a little more serious than the others, but it was different than usual.

"Hey," Kira said, causing Roxas's head to snap in her direction. She smiled softly, and said, "You okay? You seem… kinda distant today."

"Oh. Yeah," Roxas replied. "I'm fine. I guess… I just have a lot on my mind."

Kira nodded slowly. "Well, I'm here if you want to talk, you know?"

A small, almost unnoticeable smile played on Roxas's face. "Yeah, I know."

"Tell me about it later?"

Roxas looked at his friend. Her eyes were to the brim with concern and worry, but glazed with kindness and truth, reminding Roxas that he could trust his life with Kira. After a moment, he replied, "Yeah. I'll tell you later… After school."

Kira nodded again, and turned her gaze back to where she was walking, still worried about her friend.

Noticing her apprehension, Roxas smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her in tightly. "Can't have my best friend worrying, can I?" he said.

Kira glanced at him and grinned, raising her eyebrows in a doubtful manner.

Roxas laughed softly and said, "I'm fine, really. Don't worry. I'm. Fine." He repeated the last two words slowly and firmly.

They reached the school and walked toward their favorite spot, spotting a familiar redhead slouching against the trunk.

---x---

After school, Kira and Roxas left Axel to go to their secret place- a clearing in the forest behind the whole in the wall. Very few people knew about it because it was deep in the forest, so it was completely private. In fact, Kira and Roxas were the only ones who knew about it- they never even showed Axel.

The clearing had a small pond and a broad willow tree which curtained a large diameter around. It was a quiet and tranquil environment, perfect for relaxing… and talking to your best friend, when you had something on your mind that you needed to talk about.

Kira and Roxas settled their backpacks near the pond and sat by the trunk of the willow. Roxas leaned against the tree lethargically and Kira sat herself in front of him, stretching out and enjoying the peace.

"So Rox," she said gently after a few silent minutes. "What's been on your mind?"

Roxas didn't reply. He sat against the tree, staring at the pond and looking a little nervous, in a distracted way, similar to earlier in the day. But Kira knew he heard her and was listening; he was just contemplating how he should say what he was trying to say.

After moments of silence, Roxas spoke up. "Okay…uhm, let's see…A few days ago… My friend… he came up to me a-and told me about how he had a crush on one of his friends, right?" Kira nodded, so he continued. "He has a crush, but is worried and… hesitant about his feelings."

"Okay…?" Kira said impatiently, urging him to continue.

"But he needs advice because he doesn't know what to do and—"

He stopped when he saw Kira burst out laughing. He gave her a puzzled expression, which made her stop laughing. Smiling, she said, "Roxas, you just completely blew whatever cover you were trying to use."

Roxas pouted, slumping, as Kira started to giggle again. "That," she said, "and the fact that I'm your best friend! Come _on_ Rox, I know how to read you by now."

"I guess your right…" Roxas mumbled, sighing.

Kira looked disbelieving at her friend. "Roxas. Listen to me clearly: I. Am. Your. Best. Friend. I _know_ you know you can trust me. So just tell me. It's not like I'm going to… I don't know, scold you or laugh at you for whoever you happen to like, 'kay?"

Roxas nodded, looking more nervous than ever. He fiddled with his hands and looked at a random branch on the willow. "I… uhm… I kinda like…" The name he said was said so quietly, Kira couldn't hear it at all.

"Roxas," she whined.

"All right, all right!" he said, taking a deep breath. "I… I like… Axel."

Kira's face lit up and she flung her arms around her best friend's shoulders, enveloping him in a large, enthusiastic hug, earning a confused and shocked expression from Roxas. Bouncing with joy, Kira said, "Yay! Roxy's first crush!"

After a moment she pulled back slightly, hands clutching Roxas's shoulders, and her face mere inches away from his. She looked a little puzzled when she stared directly into his cerulean eyes, and said with her normal, enthusiastic voice, "You're gay?"

Upon hearing the exclaimation, Roxas fell backwards slightly and a rosy hue graced his cheeks. He became very flustered, sputtering out, "I-I-I'm n-not gay, I'm b-bi!"

Kira grinned and, much to his disliking, enveloped him in another tight hug. "Roxas, I can't believe I didn't see it earlier. I mean, the way you just look at him, the way you space out and stare at him when he talks to you…"

Roxas's blush deepened and he muttered back, "O-okay I get it!"

Kira continued to grin even as she released him. "I'm glad you told me," she said unnaturally softly. Noticing the gentleness of the tone, she quickly switched back to her normal, energetic voice and said, "See? You know you can trust me."

Roxas rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, yeah. Just… please don't tell him!"

Kira was shocked by the desperation in his voice. She frowned and said, "I won't tell him."

Letting out a relieved sigh, Roxas fell back against the tree once again. "Thank you," he murmered.

A few silent moments passed, and Kira said, "So… what are you going to do?"

Roxas paused before answering, "I don't know… try and find out which way Axel swings, probably…"

Kira giggled, saying, "Hey, I'm up for a challenge."

Roxas's face lit up and he looked at his friend with wide eyes. "You'd do that?"

"Psh, yeah. I know how Axel works. See, Rox, that's one of the most important things to know- how to work around someone until you know how _they_ work."

Still wide eyed, Roxas said, "So you're really going to try and find out?"

"Of course! And I'll even try to figure out how he feels about you, too," she smiled. Realizing Roxas's perpetual state of shock, she threw an arm around his shoulder and said, "Come on, Rox! What are best friends for, anyway?"

A small smile graced his lips. "Thanks, Kira," he muttered, pulling her in for a hug.


End file.
